The hosta garden tours planned during the Hostas by the Bay convention will include this one at the Green Bay home of Herb and Gladys King. / ROB ZIMMER/Post-Crescent Media

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The Midwest Hosta Society's annual convention comes to Green Bay in late June, bringing hosta lovers from across the Midwest. Hostas such as Emerald Ruff Cut, shown here on display at the Green Bay Botanical Garden, as well as thousands of others will be featured. / ROB ZIMMER/Post-Crescent Media

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Another garden tour: GARDEN DISCOVERIES COMES JUNE 21The Outagamie County Master Gardener volunteers will present their annual Garden Discoveries Garden Walk from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 21. The annual garden walk features tours of five area gardens in the Appleton area, each showcasing something wonderful for gardeners of all ages and experience levels. The $7 entry fee covers all five gardens and goes to further develop the Community Garden Partnership. Guests are also asked to donate two items of non-persishable food to be donated to St. Joseph’s Food Program and the Salvation Army. Fees will be collected at the first garden you choose to visit. Gardens can be visited in any order. Tour gardens for the annual Garden Discoveries event this year include the private gardens of several Appleton gardeners as well as the newest community garden in the Fox Cities, the St. Therese Community Garden at 213 E. Wisconsin Ave. For a full itinerary, driving directions and garden profiles, visit www.ocmga.net and click on the Garden Discoveries for a printable brochure.

If you go

What: Hostas by the Bay, the Midwest Hosta Society’s annual convention, sponsored by the Green and Gold Hosta Society When: June 26-29 Where: Radisson Hotel and Conference Center, Green Bay. Tours of hosta gardens in Green Bay and the Fox Cities are on the schedule. Details: For a full convention schedule, list of vendors and registration information, visit: http://greenandgoldhosta.org/2014-convention.html

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The event hosta lovers across the Midwest have been waiting for since last summer comes to Green Bay and the Fox Cities later this month.

Hostas by the Bay, the Midwest Hosta Society’s annual convention, sponsored by the local Green and Gold Hosta Society, takes place June 26-29 at the Radisson Hotel and Conference Center in Green Bay.

Tours of some of the best hosta gardens in the area include stops in Green Bay, Appleton, Oshkosh and Hobart. All registered convention guests will receive a special hosta, Cheesehead, designated as the convention plant.

Hosta showcase

“Having a major gardening convention in Green Bay brings greater awareness of the benefits of gardening, as therapy and as aesthetic improvements to our quality of life and living in general,” said Susan Garot, executive director of the Green Bay Botanical Garden.

“Having hundreds of gardening enthusiasts from around the Midwest also brings greater awareness to the tourism benefits Green Bay and northeast Wisconsin has to offer, including the (botanical) garden. Our King Shade Garden will be ready, showing off our 394 cultivars of hostas, mixed in amongst thousands of other plants, amidst the 47 acres that is Green Bay Botanical Garden.”

The Hostas by the Bay convention will include speakers touching on gardening with hostas and companion plants such as heucheras and conifers, as well as vendors selling the newest hostas and many old favorites. Vendor sales are open to the public during the convention.

Cutting-edge plants from the top hosta breeders in the country will be in demand at the event’s silent auction.

The Green and Gold Hosta Society, which features members from all over east-central and northeast Wisconsin, hosts the convention. For more information on the group, visit www.greenandgoldhosta.org.

Garden tours

The highlight for many convention-goers is the opportunity to tour the private oases of fellow hosta gardeners for design tips and ideas.

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The tours will include the massive King Shade Garden at the Green Bay Botanical Garden. A hosta lover’s paradise, the King Shade Garden features hundreds of hostas sprawling over sloping ravines, a bubbling stream and waterfall, as well as a number of other shade plantings, set in a wooded section of the botanical garden.

Herb and Gladys King of Green Bay, namesakes of the King Shade Garden, are included in the featured tours. Their hosta paradise is impressive. The pristine, bowl-shaped, wooded ravine surrounding their home hosts more than 1,500 hostas, many of which are seedlings developed by the Kings themselves.

Other tour gardens include those of Tom and Pat Kaster, Terry and Mary Vertz, Russell and Bernadine Walske, Kate Klass and Steve Rhodes, and Carl and Karen VandenHeuvel. Each garden features something different and exciting.

Jennifer Peterson of Appleton, whose garden was chosen as an optional tour garden for the convention, is excited to have fellow hosta lovers gather here.

“It’s a great chance for people in our area to find out what is all involved in a hosta conference,” Peterson said. “It’s also a great opportunity for people in our area to show off their gardens to people from all over the Midwest and beyond. My husband talked me into it. He said I put so much time into my gardens that I should show them to other people. Plus, how many times will this opportunity come around?”